Germany’s public health authority has described the country’s recent increase in coronavirus cases as a reason for concern.
Lothar Wieler, the president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease control, said he is “very worried by the new developments,” adding that there could be signs of a second wave. Over the past seven days, Germany registered 3,611 new cases.
“In late June and early July, there were only approximately 300 to 500 new infections reported per day to the RKI,” Wieler said at a press conference Tuesday morning. He described these rates as a “big success” and said they proved that appropriate measures could help keep the virus at bay.
Last Friday, however, Germany registered 815 new cases. Wieler called on Germans to continue abiding by rules such as keeping distance, washing hands and wearing face masks.
Speaking at the same press conference, Ute Rexroth, a senior RKI official, echoed Wieler’s remarks, adding that Germany is now experiencing outbreaks across the country, making it harder to track down chains of infection.
Over the past 24 hours, 633 new coronavirus cases were registered in Germany, bringing the total to 206,242, while the number of deaths increased by four to 9,122.